Chris at OBC - Lisa and Ryan in Canada

Chris at Kerkesner and heading to OBC - Chris’ Journal

Today is a terrible day for me. I am on a plane heading to San Antonio for the Army Officer Basic Course. The bad part is that I had to say goodbye to Lisa and Ryan for over a month. I do not know how I will survive being away from them for that long. It was so hard to say goodbye to Lisa. We were both rather upset and even Ryan seemed to know that something was going on. I have already decided to check into flights to reunite us for at least part of the month. It would be fun for Lisa and Ryan to come down for a weekend. I would love it so much.

Now I need to write about this last week. From Wednesday morning until Sunday night, I was at Operation Kerkesner at Marine Base Quantico. The week was the culmination of our Military Studies Course. It’s purpose was to incorporate everything we have learned and apply it in combat situations as well as to live the life of a combat marine for a week. The exercise exceeded all my expectations in every way and I had a wonderful time. It was basically the fulfillment of every little boy’s dream and I loved it.

Day 1 - We were immediately issued our M-16 rifle upon arriving. The weapon was signed out to us and we were then completely responsible for it and it never left our side. We ate with it, we slept with it, we went to the john with it. We also received classes on weapon use, maintenance and safety. They then gave us weapon demonstrations. They put bullets into styrofoam heads filled with jelly, watermelons, flack jackets, tomato juice cans, etc. After each shot, we would observe what the bullet did to the materials simulating soft tissue. It was a great way to learn about tissue injuries from gun shots. We also had the opportunity to put steel on target, but unfortunately we only got to shoot 9 round each.

Day 2 - After being trained the previous evening on patrolling and other combat tactics, we got to put it into practice today. We loaded up into AAV’s (Amphibious Assault Vehicles) which were incredible machines. They are large and powerful. They can travel 9 knots in water and over 45 miles per hour on land. Our driver hauled down one of the dirt roads for a few miles going rather fast while we were standing up in back with weapons pointed out. All of a sudden we came across a blocked road ambush so it stopped, turned 90 degrees and barreled its nose into the woods toward the ambush. We ran out the back and then into the woods and took cover. Our squad leader aligned the 3 different fire teams and we charged a few meters until the enemy withdrew. Then we retreated back across the road, called into headquarters for extraction, and made our way to a clearing where Huey helicopters came and picked us up to return us back to our base camp. It was such a blast. The helicopter I rode in was made in 1970 and had patches over hits it had taken in Vietnam so obviously I thought about my Dad a lot since he flew these exact same helicopters.

Other activities we participated in included: storming and clearing a building, compass navigation courses in the light and in the dark, defensive operations around our base camp, the leadership reaction course, the field skills relay, casualty extraction both in light and night scenarios, full MOPP gear hikes with actual chemicals being thrown at us, etc. There were basically 3 different activities every day which kept us busy from wake up at 5:15am until lights out around midnight. We had a chow tent for breakfast and dinner but MREs for lunch. We ate pretty good but I got sick of eating on the ground all the time. There was very little “down time” and lots of hiking with heavy gear so I was very sore but slept well in the few hours we got to sleep. I shared a tent with Mark Childress and the tents were just barely big enough for us to both be laying down inside. We were definitely roughing it but that was part of the fun.

Lisa in Canada

Well, I’m finally here… Canada that is… I’m spending five weeks here while my cute husband left me to go to OBC in Texas. My flight left on Wednesday at 2:25. Deanne drove me to the airport. My flight was only $99 but it sure took FOREVER. I went from Baltimore to Alabama, to Texas, to Las Vegas to Seattle. YUCK. Ryan is a good kid but it was too long. I brought all sorts of weird things to keep him entertained on the airplane and he did do very well. One of his favorite things to do was to stand up on his seat and face backwards so he could play peek-a-boo with the other passengers. Once he realized they were playing along with him he was so excited and then proceeded to show them everything he had… his books, his food and even his seatbelt. Finally, from Las Vegas to Seattle he slept the whole way. When we got to Seattle it was 1:00 AM (Maryland time) My parents were there to pick me up and take Ryan. Although I was thoroughly exhausted, I was excited to see my parents and talked the whole way home. When we got home I toured the place to see everything that was new, visited with Mike and then put Ryan in his crib with a bottle… something I usually don’t do, but I was exhausted. It was 4:00 AM my time. When Ryan finished his bottle he laid there in the dark and said… "Dad… da da da… Da Dad…" That’s the last thing I heard because I was soon sound asleep.

Canada Day

Thursday was July 1st, 1999… Canada Day!! Since Dad didn’t have to work we decided to go for a little outing up to some old railway past Hope. It was a fun little hike. We walked through tunnels and past a huge and wild river. Then we let Ryan out of the backpack to play with some rocks and we made mini-avalanches into the rushing water. We had a really good time!!

Shopping and Scrapbooking

Yesterday was a fun day. Amy and I went shopping at Guilford. I bought some cute white running shoes for $13.50! (American) Amy and my taste’s are somewhat different… she’s into very baggy cargo pants…like guys clothes… lots of olive green…BUT we have a great time shopping together. A lot of people lately have told us we look alike… like we’re definitely "two peas from the same pod." We shared a cinnabon and then came home in time to scrapbook some more. We sure have a great time doing that, but we like to talk so we don’t always get a ton done, partially because we like to get opinions from each other so it takes twice as long.

Crescent Beach

Last night we went to Crescent Beach in White Rock for Family Home Evening. We ate sandwiches and chips and then went for a walk out towards the ocean. The tide was out. When we got there we all took off our shoes and socks and walked in the water. Ryan loved it only he wanted desperately to sit down and I wouldn’t let him so he threw a fit. I took off his overalls and shirt and let him walk around in his undershirt. He had so much fun. He crawled right into the ocean, got his face wet, and started walking. It made me a bit nervous, but he wasn’t scared at all. Mom said, "He sure didn’t get that from the Walton side of the family. Just then Brian spotted a baby seal. It came right up us and Brian even got to pet it. Ryan was chasing it and even kicked it by accident. It was neat to see it up so close. When we got home we had strawberry shortcake and watched a video from ELDER DAN WALTON. He made a video for us and it was so fun to watch… what he looks like, what he eats, what Taiwan looks like, etc.

Tuesday we took Brian to his first swimming lesson over at the outdoor pool. Amy, Mom, Ryan and I walked over there and tried to tan our legs. It was beautiful weather. Nice and hot. We even wanted to get into the pool. Maybe we will one of these days. On Tuesday night Mike came home. It is fun to see him. He is sure a cutie. We talked in his room for a long time about when I started dating, etc, and about a girl that likes him and stuff. He rubbed my back while we talked. It was fun to talk about stuff like that with him. We’re ten years apart but the gap is slowly closing. It seems like Brian is the only "little" one in the family now.

On Wednesday we went and saw TARZAN. Mike baby-sat Ryan while he took his nap so I could enjoy the movie with Mom, Amy and Brian. I really enjoyed it. It was so good. I want to go see it again with Chris. At the end I started crying because it made me think about how much I love my husband, and how much I miss him. I was bawling.

Yesterday (Thursday) Sarah came over and we went baby shopping for Shaeesta. Brian came with us and couldn’t stop talking about Pokemon this or that… Sarah and I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. When Ryan woke up from his nap we took him over to go see Valerie and john. They were so excited to see us. Ryan was excellent, of course. He was so excited to play with their wooden coasters and they loved watching him. That night I worked quite a bit on my crafts, and then went shopping with mom to buy fabric and wood. Last night I cuddled with Ryan while he was drinking his bottle for bed, and talked with him about Daddy and how we’re not a complete family without him. It made me cry. I haven’t talked to Chris for three days and I really miss him.

I talked to Chris last night for a long time. It was so fun to talk to him. He’s such a sweetheart. He misses me very much… good thing!

I worked on my crafts for a long time today… I even started on cute little apples. I cute them out and sanded them all by myself!! Dad was busy working on the trailer, Amy was mowing the lawn and Ryan was playing outside. It seemed like a very typical summer Saturday. The weather was gorgeous. Tonight the boys went to a stock car race down in the states so it was a girls night in. We went to Costco and then rented a funny Irish comedy. Then we water colored and played Dr. Mario. Now I’m feeling depressed because they can both paint and play Dr. Mario better than me!! I’m useless. OH WELL. : )

Today was very enjoyable. First of all I got to talk to my husband this morning. He’s on his way for one of the two weeks out in the field. That means I probably won’t get to talk to him until Friday or Saturday. Sad! Ryan is getting so hard during church now. He is so active… it’s hard to keep his attention. He did sleep a little during sacrament meeting so that was good. After church and dinner Amy and I had fun going through boxes of old stuff… barbies, dolls, old school stuff… We cleaned and organized and reminisced. So fun. When Dad got home from his stake meetings we had a study class. We talked about death and the resurrection… a lot of good discussion… we probably talked for more than an hour. Now everyone is eating popcorn and goofing around but I need to get to bed because my boy gets up early!! Good night.

Bear Creek Park

We went to Bear Creek Park this morning. They have an area that sprays water and a little tiny stream down the cement under bridges etc for a little kids play area. Ryan enjoyed walking through it but the water was very cold so he redirected himself toward the sand. We put him in the swing, down slides, on the teeter-totter with me and Brian… He enjoyed himself. This afternoon Mom, Amy and I canned cherries! I was actually kind of fun. When Dad called home, mom told him that we’d canned cherries and he just laughed. He had just barely set up for us to go to someone’s house to pick cherries. It was funny that they had both planned it on the same day. So… we picked cherries for FHE tonight. The cherries are different though. These ones will be better for PIE. Mom is making it right now! I just put Ryan to bed. He’s so easy. I think I’m going to go to bed soon too. I’m so wiped out.

Missing Chris

Well, it’s Chris’ birthday today and he’s spending it out in the field. I’m sad we can’t be together. I’m missing him a lot right now. I’ll be so glad to have him back in TWO weeks… then I’ll never let him go. Being away makes me realize how great he is.

Friday afternoon Amy and I were scrapbooking while I was telling her all about how I missed my husband. Just then he called. Amy answered, and I could tell it was him, and started getting weepy. I wasn’t able to talk to him all week because he was out in the field. I talked for a LONG time telling him every detail about everything. He’s such a good listener. I just loved hearing his voice. He said he was crying at the beginning of the phone call because he missed me so much.

Friday night Sarah picked up Ryan and I and took us to Shaeesta’s house for a girls reunion. We had dinner and showed pictures, and talked. It was good to see them again and get reacquainted but it sure made me thankful for what I have. I wouldn’t change places with anyone of them. Shae is 8 months pregnant so Sarah and I got her a baby present… Everyone loved Ryan. Of course he was the center of attention. It was fun to show him off.

Mike was there when I got home. He just spend 10 days at the Provincial Jamboree. It was fun to talk to him. He died his hair blondish/orange before he left and now the brown roots are starting to grow a bit. I think it looks really good on him. I also think Mom and Dad might have an interesting time with him as a teenager… he’s just so cute and the girls adore him… he’s already thinking it’ll be hard to wait till his 16th birthday.

Saturday morning we went Garage Sale Hunting… It was so much fun. Mom, Amy, Mike, Brian, Ryan and I went and we found TONS of stuff… especially for Amy to take down to Ricks. I bargained a lot of stuff down and we really got a good deal on everything. Like TOY STORY for $4.00, some toys for Ryan and some cute jars for 50 cents. It was really fun.

Last night Amy, Mike and Brian and I played Rummy, made cookies and had fun talking. It’s fun to be here.

It’s Monday night, 9:40. Ryan’s asleep and everyone else is over doing the office. The only thing I really want to do is talk to my husband on the phone but I can’t… so I guess I’ll write a little in my journal. We had a good day. I helped Mom paint a bunch. She is so busy doing everything. I try to help as much as I can. I gave Brian a spelling and math test. I kept pretending I was a teacher by giving him the words he got wrong over and over until he got it right. Amy said, boy I’m glad you weren’t a teacher when I was that young. Ya… I think my kids will get sick of me.

Seeing Old Friends

I set up a party on Thursday night with my church friends… Kristina, Kim, Jennifer, Gina and Lisa Vance… I’m SO excited… way more excited for this one than the other one. When I called Kim she was so excited to talk to me. We talked for 45 minutes. It was so fun. We were always good friends but she was more popular than me so I didn’t do a whole lot with her outside church (and work at Portofinos). Anyways I was kind of nervous to actually call her and set something up but she was thrilled to talk to me and is so anxious for Thursday. She even said that her sister Jen told her I looked awesome, totally skinny and cute hair. It makes me feel good.

This evening for FHE we prepared things for the trip. The weather was beautiful this evening so we were all outside goofing around as well. Ryan was having so much fun. Mom was watering the plants and he got a hold of the hose and was flipping it all around. He even got me wet… and he got HIMSELF wet and it would shock him so he’d drop the hose and then touch his wet leg or head and then he’d see the hose again and would pick it up again and it would spray everything again. It was so cute. Everyone got a real kick out of watching him. Then we rented Patch Adams. We’re half way finished it and we’ll watch the rest of it when everyone gets home.

Well, Tuesday we did go to Costco. I got some pictures developed and they were so awesome. I also talked to Gina for awhile!

Wednesday Amy, Mom, Brian, Ryan and I went shopping to Guilford. We had so much fun. It was a very successful trip. I bought a new blue long skirt, a GAP sweatshirt that I LOVE!!, and cute new JEANS -straight leg ones… they are so fun. I hope Chris will like them… I’m not so sure. But they were a good deal and I need to be a little more ‘stylish’. Amy and I tried on EVERYTHING the same. We were twinners the whole day. She bought the GAP sweatshirt and straight leg jeans too so we took pictures of our new outfits when we got home.

Brian was so helpful. He loved to stroll Ryan all over the place and eventually laid him down and got him to go to sleep. He kept passing people and telling them to be quiet. It was so cute. I made chicken enchiladas for my family. They loved them. Then Ryan and I played outside for awhile. He sure loves it out there. He fell asleep during dinner again so he didn’t go to bed until 10:00!! I’ve got to get that kid back on a schedule again. Ah, but it won’t happen until I’m back home. These next two weeks will be fun though.

Camping in Glacier Park

Our Week of Camping and the Walton Family Reunion was great. Friday afternoon we packed up the tent trailer and TRIED to head down to Jim & LeAnn’s house. Each of us took one corner of the trailer to lower it. Two cables were broken already... and while trying to get it down the other two snapped. We figured the trailer would give out soon but we were still shocked. We all stared at it with open mouths. Except mom... she just couldn’t stop laughing. Immediately we decided to unpack everything and go camping with TENTS! It took us an hour or two to load everything into the black trailer and it was midnight by the time we got down to Jim & LeAnn’s. By 5:30 or so the next morning we were in the van on our way to Montana... Glacier Park! When we got there it was POURING RAIN. First of all we were a little disappointed in the lack of trees around our campsite and then the rain didn’t make it any better. We were pretty depressed but tried to put up the tent without getting too wet. We set up, ate yummy soup and played with Jim’s kids. Pretty soon it stopped raining and the clouds disappeared. It was a welcome sight. We took a walk together and then sat around talking. Amy Mike Brian and I couldn’t stop laughing in the tent because we were playing the one word game. We were trying to be quiet but I guess we weren’t... mom had to come tell us to be quiet. It’s funny... when I’m with my brothers and sisters I’m just a kid again. It was so fun to goof around and be silly with them.

SUNDAY we woke up, had a good breakfast, got ready for church and had study class. We went to church a little ways away. Ryan was such a handful. I would give him toys to play with and he’d drop them on the floor and say ‘uh-oh!’ Amy was deathly sick too. Bad bad cramps with her period... very unusual for her. That night we went for a Sunday walk underneath the bridge around Glacier Park. Mike found a snake and entertained the little boys with that. LeAnn and I stayed as far away as we could. That night LeAnn looked at our scrapbooks and was very impressed.

MONDAY we headed up to Glacier park. We spent a full day hiking different trails and playing by the rushing streams in West Glacier. It was a beautiful sunny day. We spent most of the time helping Ryan pick up rocks and throwing them into the water. Grandpa would help them pick the rocks right out of the water!

As soon as we would get to a new spot, Mike (the one with the newly died blond hair) being the adventurous teenager he is, would immediately scout around and find the most dangerous location and try out his mountain climbing and balancing skills. Ryan tried a few tricks of his own … like splashing his Mom with water.

Logan Pass is the highest peak in Glacier National Park. It is so beautiful. We hiked up to the snow line and took a group photo near the top. And … a classic picture of my Dad … relaxing amid the snow. The only problem was the wind up there at the top. Ryan and I found shelter by a huge rock and had fun playing with Amy. We ate lunch by another waterfall and Aubrey fell into the rushing water. Nobody saw her fall in but Amy heard her and pulled her out. (She was definitely the hero of the day). The drive up and back from Logan Pass was gorgeous as well. We stopped several places to look around and take a photo. What a view!

Walton Family Reunion in Mountain View, Alberta

TUESDAY we packed up and headed to Mountain View, Alberta for the Walton Family Reunion. Grandma and Grandpa had booked the Mountain View Inn for three nights. (Adam Christofferson’s aunt & uncle own it.) The weather was gorgeous and the view was spectacular. We enjoyed many Rook games, a family auction, the traditional talent show and lots of good visiting. It was wonderful to see everyone and have them meet Ryan. Ryan of course took advantage of all the attention and showed off in the center of the group. We all sat in a big circle outside on the grass just talking and laughing. In attendance: Grandma and Grandpa... David, Mary, Lisa, Ryan, Amy, Mike, Brian... Janet, Terry (both as funny as always) Tom (who’s 18ish and very cute and fun)... Dianne, Joe, Jeff (cute, nice guy), Lindsey (such a sweetheart... she took care of Ryan ALL the time) Kyle, (who I never really saw because he and Brian went off together somewhere), Jim, LeAnn, Dallin, Devin, Dallin, Aubrey, Nathan, Marci and Jamie.

That night I had such a good talk with Chris on the phone. I miss him so badly. It was so fun to talk to him.

Then we had the AUCTION. Grandma and Grandpa worked hard to find a whole bunch of (mostly useless) things for us to buy with our $100 of Monopoly money. We would bid for something we wanted and bid each other up. It was kind of silly but we had fun with it. The only bad part was some of the stuff that Grandma spend a lot of time making or something special to her nobody would bid for...

WEDNESDAY we had a big breakfast and then went outside for the games. Amy and I won the 3-legged race. Mom, Dianne and I LOST the water balloon toss. We all got soaked. The funniest one was the shoe kicking contest. The girls did it and then the men did it. They were hilarious. They were cheating so bad... picking up each others shoes and throwing them backward, running, holding their shoes... laughing the whole time. Ryan even ran in a race, the under 3 category. He lost but he still got a ribbon. It was fun.